Western Suburbs Dining Destinations?

I'm moving out from Rogers Park in the city to Villa Park (just west of Elmhurst), and hoping folks can help me find some great dining establishments to add to my rotation. I lived out there for 15 years, so I know a lot of places, but that was before I had LTH has a resource to find great places to eat... There's a real dearth of GNR's in that area (La France Crepes is the only one really close, although Katys Dumplings is also in the area, and I'll have to check that out). I'm also interested in shopping options in the area, but I'll post a separate thread in the Shopping & Cooking forum (and cross link both of these posts in hopes that other suburban dwellers might find these threads and find them useful).

I've done some searches, and most of what I've found is pretty old posts. I'm interested in the area around Villa Park, Lombard, and Elmhurst; I'd say between Highway 290 on the east out to 355/53 in the west, and from Irving Park Road on the north to Ogden on the south.

So what's good out in the 'burbs?

EDIT: I've created a Google Map of (most) of these establishments listed below. Let me know if anyone has trouble accessing it - Google Maps used to call out specifically how to make something public or private but I can't find that setting in the newer version. Being Google, I'm guessing it defaults to public...

EDIT EDIT: Figured out how to make it public so people can access it via the above link - it is not a default.

A couple of good lunch options:
Zenwich in Elmhurst
Johnson's Door County Fish in Lombard
Also, Tae Fu Chinese in Villa Park is surprisingly good for the area.

Just a short drive north of Villa Park, I suggest the following:

Elio's Pizza on Fire on Lake Street in Addison - Excellent Neapolitan style pizza baked in wood-burning brick oven.
U Gazdy on Irving Park Rd in Wood Dale - Stick-to-your-ribs Polish Highlander food
Sushi Ya on Roselle Rd in Schaumburg - Yes, it's a little bit further than you asked but it's one of our favorites.

Quite a few, actually! I work in that rough quadrangle, and here's what's in my roster:

Lao Sze Chuan - Downers Grove - GNR szechuan chinese.
Chicks n Salsa - Glen Ellyn - Surprisingly good fish tacos
Taco Grill - Westmont - Lump charcoal grilled meats, gigantic carne asada plate for $9.99, extensive salsa bar, and excellent tortas.
Standard Market - Westmont - My gold standard grocery, with an excellent fast-casual restaurant
Oriental Food House - Westmont - Taiwanese, e.g. oyster omelette and pork and sticky rice tower, in the International "Mall" food court
Shawarma Express - Lombard - Fairly recently opened, fantastic Palestinian chicken shawarma on a rotating spit
Johnson's Door County Fish - Lombard - Perfect fried shrimp with nasal-passage-clearing "Thor" cocktail sauce
Gulliver's Pizza - "Thin crust in a deep dish pan" hits the balance between the indulgence of deep dish while keeping things a bit lighter

And just outside your boundary:

Q BBQ - La Grange - Burnt ends!
Hot Dog Company - La Grange - Craggy corn dogs akin to Cozy Dog, perfect with the mustard sauce "borrowed" from Q BBQ
Back Alley Burger - La Grange - Creative burgers, fresh cut fries, and shakes. There's a location in Villa Park, but I haven't been there.

Many of these places have been sprinkled throughout LTH threads, but some are new. I'm sure there are more, and I'll add as I think of them.

Welcome back!
mike

Great suggestions! Keep them coming - I will probably create a google map and link it into the first post, both for my reference and for others.

I'm happy to hear any suggestions outside of the boundaries I indicated; I just wanted to set some kind of clear parameter to help focus the discussion.

As long as we're adding in some restaurants just outside those borders, these need to be mentioned:

Big Guys Sausage - Berwyn - With Hot Doug's closing, BGS is Daenerys gathering forces outside the city proper for the imminent hot dog Game of Thrones. Seasonal sausages are usually spot on (especially near Thanksgiving), but the cheeseburger with onion string and thousand island is divine
Bodhi Thai - Berwyn - The most authentic Thai food I've had in the suburbs, complete with not-so-secret menu
Villa Nova Pizza - Stickney - Well regarded Chicago thin crust pizza, and they tolerate when I ask for pie cut

mike

I live in Elmhurst. There are many alternatives. GNRs Katy's Dumplings in Westmont and Le France in Lombard are a very easy drive.

Pollo Vagabundo - Grand Ave Northlake
Taqueria Mi Palenque - North Ave Northlake
Carnitas Don Alfredo - Lake St. Melrose.
Danny's Deli - Melrose
Kuppies Bakery - St. Cahrles in VP
Moogies (dogs and Gyros) - Oak Brook Terrace
Mike's Market - VP
Omelet House Grill - St Charles in Villa Park
Sushi Nest _ elmhurst
Sakana Japanese Fusion - Elmhurst
Chicks and Salsa - Roosevelt in Glen Ellyn

Just scratching the surface

Also in Westmont, Chinese Kitchen

I love Alfie's in Glen Ellyn for a good burger. viewtopic.php?f=14&t=37947

When I used to work/live in downtown Elmhurst, access to Gene N Jude's and Johnny's was surprisingly easy down North Avenue. If you're in NE Villa Park, they may be options. If you're in SW Villa Park, then pretty much everything along Ogden between 83/355 is relatively easy to get to.

Sadly there was no LTH before I moved further southwest in early 2003.

La Tosca on St Charles in Villa Park-Very good thin pizza, decent lunch buffet, fast delivery, good service and food in house. Delivery menu differs from in house with daily specials on carry out.

Shannon's Deli on Park in downtown Lombard. Closes too early for me but really decent deli and nice people. Bring dinner to Lilacia Park and catch a movie in the summer.

Mickey's Beef on St Charles for fast food and Portillo's is nearby on North or route 83, as well.

Now that Lu's is leaving Glen Ellyn, all of the Chinese places left are not good in the area. Trust me. Lu's is moving to Wheaton, go there,

Venture to Forest Park, which isn't far, and dine at Golden Steer for a nice, sometimes relaxing dinner.

Boston Fishmarket is just down route 83, maybe 10 minutes from North ave. Hopefully grab a table or wait, carry out and picnic or bring home.

Greek Islands in Lombard is usually good.

Villa Park VFW does a fish fry on Friday. Support the vets and enjoy the menu!

Villa Park Fruit Market has a café in the back with decent Mex items and Pete's in Villa Park is much more expanded, with pizza and Italian, Greek etc. VP fruit market has a good bakery, inexpensive and fresh. Both have eat in areas.

There's a bar called Overtime in Villa Park that has a wing and Bloody Mary special on Sunday.

Brooster's in Lombard has tasty marinated chicken. Sides, not so great.

I could list more places that are not good in the area so be picky and do a search. The VP area is seriously lacking which has really helped with my diet! I no longer eat at more then half of the establishments I mentioned, but I miss them....

Kid Charlemagne wrote:Highway 290

That's a new one to me.

Katy's is a definite, imo.
Desi Grill & Pizza in Lombard if you dig dive-style Indo Pak
There's a joint called Pita House on Roosevelt in Lombard - it's a Middle Eastern joint that could simply scratch the itch nearby.

In the boundaries you've given, however, I'm a major fan of Katy's and Desi Grill tho. If you have interest in Desi, I'd suggest a chicken naan roll and a chili chicken "lunch box" as an order for two ppl if you are meat eaters. If you go there to dine in, remember, it is a DIVE (and some dives might take offense to that.)

Labriola Cafe, somewhere around the Oak Brook Mall is sposed to have a burger worth investigating.

I used to dig Reza's on 22nd for middle eastern, but I haven't been in ages. If I were to go back however, I know I'd still get the grilled mushroom appetizer, and dark meat chicken kebabs, and probably be very happy.

If you wind up at Uncle Julio's Hacienda on 22nd around Lombard somewhere, remember this post warning you not to go there under any circumstances.

seebee wrote:If you wind up at Uncle Julio's Hacienda on 22nd around Lombard somewhere, remember this post warning you not to go there under any circumstances.

Ha! That place has never tempted me, though I have gotten BBQ from Weber Grill, and Chinese from PF Chang's in the same area.

seebee wrote:If you wind up at Uncle Julio's Hacienda on 22nd around Lombard somewhere, remember this post warning you not to go there under any circumstances.

If you want creative Mexican in that area, you might want to consider Barbakoa, just down the street. It's new, a collaboration including Jerry Kleiner and Dudley Nieto. I had lunch there a few weeks ago and enjoyed it a lot.

a couple new ones to me listed above. appreciated.

I eat lunch up in that area a few times a week, and 9 times out of 10 hit Johnson's Door County - probably better all around than Troha's...... wednesday is shrimp plate or shrimp dinner on special, other days the lightly breaded shrimp or the lake perch are favorites.

Gonna check out that U Gazdy.

A spot Im curious about is Mr. Halal Broaster, just down the street from Johnsons and Desi Grill. Halal broaster chix, piri piri wings, etc.

Mr. Halal Broaster
833 E. Roosevelt
Lombards, IL.

http://www.mrbroast.com/

just havent made it in yet.

Jim, I wouldn't go out of my way to hit up Mr. Broaster. It's a pretty plain fast food joint. Not bad by any means, but just put hot sauce on whatever chicken sandwich is closest to you, call it piri piri, and you've pretty much got it.

seebee, if you're in the area, try out Shawarma Express. I think it's significantly better than the Pita House or Reza's, but YMMV. I also went to Al Bawadi this weekend, which will make any of these choices seem bland.

mike

Mikelipino wrote:Jim, I wouldn't go out of my way to hit up Mr. Broaster. It's a pretty plain fast food joint. Not bad by any means, but just put hot sauce on whatever chicken sandwich is closest to you, call it piri piri, and you've pretty much got it.

mike

thanks for the tip, figured someone might have made it in.

Mikelipino wrote:
seebee, if you're in the area, try out Shawarma Express. I think it's significantly better than the Pita House or Reza's, but YMMV. I also went to Al Bawadi this weekend, which will make any of these choices seem bland.

mike

I head to those joints on S Harlem on the regular exactly for that reason, hence my "joint that could simply scratch the itch nearby"comment. I'm definitely interested in that Schawaram Express tho. I'm not around Lombard too often these days, but when I am, Desi Grill is usually calling out to me, cuz if there's two things I like in this world, it's Indian food, and dive joints. Put those two together, and I'm on it like white on Basmati.

seebee wrote:I head to those joints on S Harlem on the regular exactly for that reason, hence my "joint that could simply scratch the itch nearby"comment.

What joints on south Harlem?

zoid wrote:What joints on south Harlem?

The joints in the 70's and further. Plan to investigate if you've never been, if you dig on Middle Eastern. Boys' Night Out, maybe?

Al Bawadi, Al Mawal, and several others that really rock on S. Harlem Ave.

Oh man does that look good!

If you're heading down south Harlem, don't forget about these two places:

Riverside Family Restaurant viewtopic.php?p=474271

and White Fence Farm http://whitefencefarm-il.com/carryout.php#carryout (Note that White Fence Farm on S. Harlem is a carry-out locations, and there are other carry-out locations in the western burbs. I believe the Romeoville location is the only sit-down location.)

Edit: I realize I'm probably getting too far afield from the OP's requested location....that said, I still consider these places part of the western burbs, and this is turning into a handy "Where to eat in the western burbs" thread that I plan to refer to.

Frankly, this area has some of the best ethnic food around nowadays - Ive made special trips from the north-burbs on occasion to pick up food!

This is especially true of Chinese - its the best area around for Chinese, IMHO, even more so than Chinatown (bold tho that statement might be Katys remains my favorite Chinese restaurant in town - and there are 2 of them there that I like (Westmont is great, but the spicy ribs at Naperville are awesome too). The Lao Sze Chuan outpost is very very good. And I could never make Fabulous Noodles (because I always hit the other 2 places) until a month ago - when I picked up from Fabulous Noodles for the first time and found it terrific (and will now face difficult decisions in the future

I havent personally done a lot of Indian food in the area, but friends have raved about a few places. The Pakistanis love Mr Halal Broast - so it might be worth a try (though, note, some of these are "halal food only" guys - so they havent experienced the great non-Pakistani spicy fried chickens elsewhere in town). But they rave about "zingering" (I think thats what they call their burger or their spicy chicken sandwich?). And most of them claim that Lombard has some excellent Indo/Pakistani food - Shahi Nehari in Lombard, IIRC, is particularly highly rated (as good or better than Sabri Nehari on Devon is what Ive been told)..if youre going all the way up to places like Schaumburg, of course, then you have more good Indian and Pakistani places than you can shake a stick at.

c8w

We also like Country House in Clarendon Hills for burgers.

http://www.burgerone.com/clarendon/

TooHot, my mom tells me the chef from Lu's in Glen Ellyn recently started cooking at Yu's Mandarin in Westmont. If all goes well, he will purchase the restaurant. We have had excellent Taiwanese food there, but my mom special orders in Taiwanese.

The Country House is one of the best places for late night food in the area, 11pm on Sun and monday, 12 am Tues thru Thurs, and 1 am on Fri and Saturday,

For pizza, I'd head to Armand's in downtown Elmhurst right across the street from the Elmhurst train station or Q's in nearby Hillside. A simple cheese and sausage will do at either location.

For Italian beef, hot dogs, pizza puffs and a classic Chicago polish, I like Mickey's on St. Charles Road in Villa Park. Mickey's is in the Vienna Beef Hall of Fame. Is it Gene and Jude's? No, but NOTHING is. But Mickey's still puts out a great Chicago style hot dog and a pretty good Italian beef.

I've created a Google Map of most of these locations and added a link to it in the first post! I included some of the more far reaching ones, even if they are not ones I may get to often. If I develop more ambition, I might add layers to help people narrow down the map to areas they are interested in (Near West for things like Boston Fishmarket & Gene & Jude's, Near West for the places near berwyn and south, etc).

Fire and Wine in Glen Ellyn for wonderful pizza and pasta.
A Toda Mardre is opening in Glen Ellyn in the next month. It's from the Bien Trucha people.
Chicks and Salsa has been mentioned a couple time above and there is good reason. Fish tacos are awesome!
River City Roasters in Wheaton for the most incredible bourbon barrel coffee.
Antico Posto in Oakbrook is great and consistent for italian. I know, it's a lettuce restaurant, but it's still good.

Kid Charlemagne wrote:I've created a Google Map of most of these locations and added a link to it in the first post! I included some of the more far reaching ones, even if they are not ones I may get to often. If I develop more ambition, I might add layers to help people narrow down the map to areas they are interested in (Near West for things like Boston Fishmarket & Gene & Jude's, Near West for the places near berwyn and south, etc).

Awesome, thanks!

=R=